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RE: Is It Ripe? How To Know When To Eat Avocado, Mango, and Papaya, Contributed by @sharingeverybite
Six years in Thailand taught me how to determine the ripeness of mango and pappaya. And also taught me not to but avacado in Thailand. Most came from Australia, and while they might be rock hard, once you cut them you'd find them rotting already inside.
One difference with mango in Thailand is that the Thais prefer to eat them unripe. Same with pappaya. Pappaya is most commonly used unripe in the ubiquitous som tam, although mango is also common. Both are also sold on the street in long strips to be dipped in a combination of sugar, salt and chili. While it might not sound great, it's actually quite delicious, though to be honest I preferred pineapple, which added a sour component to the sweet/salty/spicy dipping mixture.
That's interesting to hear that about avocados! I wonder why that is. Picking too early maybe? I've bought fruits and vegetables like that in the past as well. They stay "unripe" for ages and ages and almost overnight, they go bad.
As for preferring unripe mango and papaya, is that so they hold up better during the cooking process? If they are ingreients in a hot dish, they would probably turn to mush before the rest of the ingredients cook unless they are hard/unripe.
Interestingly, Mexicans have a similar tradition of the chili salt and also lime on mangos. I'm not sure if the mixture contains sugar, though.
Me too! I love adding pineapple for a sweet and sour component to savory recipes.